Sandals and Snowfields

After filling up with pizza in Bozeman, MT (thanks for the suggestion, Matt and Heather!), we decided to continue driving toward Glacier National Park. Our original plan was to spend the night there (Bozeman), but it was only three and we weren't quite ready to park the car for the evening. There were still at least five hours in front of us before we got to the park. We made a quick stop to fill up in Anaconda, MT, and then made camp at Phillipsburg, MT. Population: not much. 500? It was small. Thankfully, the tent site was cheap, flat, and there were showers. Although the hot water didn’t last as long as the sticker said it would, it was still nice. The place was tiny so it was also pretty quiet.

Morning found us headed northwest, through Kalipswell and past Whitefish to our fourth national park. We found a site just on the west shore of Lake McDonald at Apgar Campground. The utility sink (for dumping our dish water) ended up being a huge, low, square toilet. We both got the eebie jeebies when we had to go in and dump our water. And then flush it.

The next day we explored the park using the free shuttle service. Yup, there was a shuttle so we were able to leave the car parked! It was so nice. There’s only one road bisecting the park (Going to the Sun Road), which means there’s a lot of traffic on it. Just by luck, the shuttle service started the day before we got to the park (July 1st). We spent a few minutes looking at the map and making plans. We decided to take it to the epicenter of the park: Logan Pass. I’m pretty sure that’s what everyone else decided to do, too. We found a bit of shade on a bench and had a lunch of cheese and crackers among a bustling crowd of tourists. After lunch we stopped in to chat with a ranger about hiking options, and then headed out into the masses. Because we got a bit of a late start, we decided to try to hike to Hidden Lake Overlook, a short (three miles, round trip) flat hike to get some fresh, 6,640’ mountain air. The only snafu was that after about a quarter mile the trail was completely covered with snow. And we were wearing our sandals. Air temp: ~75. Ground temp: 32. I tried walking barefoot for a little while. It lasted about ten paces and then my feet were numb.

A couple people had brought sleds, we saw two guys who had skis, but nearly everyone was wearing boots (we did see a handful of others who had sandals on). After a third of a mile we had left most of the crowd behind and were able to enjoy the spectacular views of mountains, snowfields, and springtime flowers (glacier lilies). When we got to the viewpoint we sat down to have a drink and a bite to eat. I turned to talk with Rachel and a mountain goat was about four feet behind her. Although it was probably only here because it was looking for food, it was still neat to see. 

When we turned around to leave, we walked past an ewe and her kid. And then we passed another set further down the trail. Cool. On the bus ride back we talked with a guy from Rochester, NY, and a retired couple from Georgia who were driving up to Banff, Canada after their visit here. Jealous. I can’t wait to retire.

The following day we drove to St. Mary’s, on the other side of the park (east entrance). We stopped at a few of the turnouts and gawked (some more) at the majestic views. 

We played some cribbage, went swimming, and watched the sun set.

July Fourth saw us getting up early to hike Huckleberry Mountain. At twelve miles (round trip) and 2,725’ of elevation gain, it was our longest hike of the trip. It started out nicely enough, but then mosquitoes swarmed in for their breakfast. We quickened our pace to get away from the river and soon were gaining elevation, skirting the river valley as we headed up to the ridge. Once we were there, the views into the park were spectacular. We had most of the elevation below us, too, so it was a nice ridge walk along wildflowers to the lookout. After a nice break we turned around and retraced the trail. At one point we stopped and very quickly there was a roaring sound. We both said “Ohmygosh!!!” but by the time we were done it was already gone. The roaring went right over our heads and then we realized it was not roaring but buzzing. This very scary (to us, in bear country) disturbance was not a bear, but rather a hummingbird. Whew. Close call. After calming down and arriving back at the car, I was exhausted from looking for things which would view us as potential dinner: mountain lion, grizzly bear, black bear. And a moose would just trample us if it was having a bad day. We’re fifth on the food chain here.  We celebrated our mortality by eating some huckleberry ice cream when we got back down to the lake. Mmmmm.

With some disappointment, we packed up the following morning and continued our trip west, heading to North Cascades National Park.

Rainbows and Mud Bubbles

As Michael mentioned in our last post, the next stop after the Tetons was Yellowstone.  I always thought it was a bit arbitrary that Yellowstone had become the iconic park of the American people.  When I was working with Ken Burns’ crew on “National Parks: America’s Best Idea”, I heard so many incredible stories about each and every one of the 59 parks.  It’s true that Yellowstone was the first national park in the world, that its history is rife with conflict and triumph, and that it spans over 2 million acres of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, but there are so many other parks and stories to consider, so many other icons of a complex conservation history.  Once we arrived in Yellowstone, however, my thoughts shifted.  While Yellowstone may not be the image of the American national parks, it is definitely one of the most awe-inspiring and unique places in the country.  I can definitively say that every man, woman, and child in the country should be given the opportunity to see the incredible creation that has become our park.

Unfortunately, like so many things, much of Yellowstone has become commercialized and is run by “concessionaires”.  In general, we have not had great luck with these groups.  Not only are their camping prices outrageous, the first site we were assigned in Yellowstone was literally a tiny, steep hill bisected by a culvert crawling with mosquito larvae.  The couple in the site next to us had the same issue (i.e. uhhh…where are we supposed to put our tent?), so we decided all together to go back and say we needed a new site or a refund.  Thankfully, this time they were nicer and actually paid attention to which site they assigned.  It wasn’t fantastic, but we had a few trees, a relatively flat area for the tent, and were neighbors to the campground hosts who were a really sweet retired couple who rode around the park with their dog in a basket on the back of their motorcycle.  We were in Bridge Bay which is part of Yellowstone Lake, a huge alpine lake in the caldera of the volcano that formed the park.  The rangers advised us to take a quick walk on the Storm Point Loop and mentioned that we would see a marmot show.  We weren’t quite sure what to make of that, but we were stir crazy, so we headed out with bear bell and bear spray (yes, we are paranoid).  Within the first few hundred yards, we encountered our first bison.  He was just chilling and we probably could have just walked up to him and pet him without as much as a flinch.  They are seriously just enormous cows.  Anyhow, it was our first bison, so we were excited.  The trail was nice although it quickly became evident why it was named Storm Point.  Trees were down everywhere from what we assumed were windy winters.  Pretty soon, we came upon the marmots.  And they did indeed give us a show.  Sort of an extremely fat version of a poke-less porcupine, the marmots chattered and ambled between holes, trying in vain to run away from us, only to poke out again with curiosity.  Definitely an odd creature.  The end of the trail was a nice overlook across Yellowstone Lake and we sauntered back with enough time to do a few loads of laundry, shower, and cook pasta in the parking lot while waiting for our last load to dry. 

We'll let this speak for itself...

We headed toward the southern part of the park for our first full day.  There is a lot of driving in Yellowstone, but we saw a number of cool things.  Our first stop was West Thumb Geyser Basin which was our first experience with the geothermic activity that makes Yellowstone so famous.  As we were leaving, we noticed a lot of people congregating at one end of the parking lot so, expecting another geyser, we headed that direction and found ourselves a few dozen feet from a first elk.  Where bison are just big funny cows, elk are quite majestic.  Of course, we proceeded to see so many elk – some on the well-manicured lawns of the pricey hotels – that became are now banal.  We took a short hike to Lonestar Geyser, but were disappointed as the trail was mostly paved or packed gravel and we missed the geyser erupting by about an hour.  It was really hot, so we didn’t want to wait another two hours for it to erupt again.  We headed to Old Faithful and then took the long drive back to camp, catching a lot more wildlife as it approached dusk.

Our first elk sighting

Lonestar Geyser

Pelican on Yellowstone Lake

Old Faithful

The next day, we tried to hike to Mystic Falls, but we ended up at the wrong turnout and after hiking about a mile (with no falls) we decided it was too hot to go to the correct turnout.  We headed northwest on the main roads this time, catching the Grand Prismatic Spring, Obsidian Cliff, Sheepeater Cliff, and Roaring Mountain along the way.  Roaring Mountain is so-called because one could once hear the steam vents for miles.  Now it is just a slight hiss and rumble but still pretty remarkable.  Sadly, we didn’t actually see any obsidian as the region around the cliff was closed many years ago due to people stealing the rocks for souvenirs.  The site has a neat history nonetheless.  Lastly, we stopped at Mammoth Hot Springs, but it began to rain and quickly became too cold to keep walking and taking pictures.  We visited the visitors’ museum instead and drove back through Hayden Valley on our way south.

Grand Prismatic Spring

Mammoth Hot Springs

Our last day we hoped to combine some sight-seeing with a bit of travel outside the park.  We drove through Roosevelt Country and Tower Fall which was quite spectacular.  Aside from the road, it is really removed from the bustle of the main attractions and afforded some excellent views.  I even caught a brief glimpse of the hindquarters of a bear.  We stopped quickly at the Petrified Tree (so fascinating) and then hit the road for our next stop all the while thinking that the volcano under Yellowstone could erupt any day and change the entire landscape.  

Petrified Tree

Roosevelt Country

Next stop: Glacier National Park and some Montana explorations.

And Then There Were Mountains

After our time at the Badlands, we stopped by Mount Rushmore and spent the night in Buffalo, WY. We had initially planned to stop by Devil’s Tower, but in the moment decided it would be cut from the itinerary. We wanted to get to the Tetons, pronto. Rachel drove for a few hours, mostly winding through the Bighorn Mountains, where our highest elevation was just below ten thousand feet. Eventually, we made it into the park, flashed our spiffy access pass, and drove to our site at Colter Bay. Previously we had to deal with rattlesnakes. Now there weren’t any snakes, but instead much larger, furrier creatures. Yes, we were officially in bear country. The sites at the campground all had their own bear boxes, a steel case about two feet by three by three. We chose to keep all our bear attracting items in the car. We, of course, still slept in the tent. 

After an uneventful first night, we spent the day cruising around on the road, reading all the little roadside information displays. The really cool thing about the Tetons is that they rise out of the land without any foothills. They are just standing there, by themselves, like sentinels. Bam.

We did go for a short hike, to Phelps Lake. The trail followed a stream on the way up, and it was quite beautiful. I had the bear spray on my hip and a bell on the pack. It was our first hike in bear country and I was thankful it was a popular trail, since that way there were more people making noise, scaring the bears away. The view from the lake was spectacular.

We also went to the Murie Center, which is a conservation organization. They have a campus which they bring youth and school groups to and run environmental education programming. After this full day, we headed back to camp, got some sleep, and packed up for our next park, only a few miles away. We turned north and headed to Yellowstone National Park.

Yellowstone teaser:

America the Beautiful

We arrived in the Badlands mid-afternoon with a nice window of time to arrange our campsite, explore the visitors’ center, and cook a decent dinner.  Getting our America the Beautiful pass was really exciting.  This was for real!

The visitors’ center had some of the awesome water fountains with filtered, cold water spouts for water bottles.  It may not seem like much but after way too many hours in the hot car drinking hot water, we were psyched.  We took some time to relax and get settled and set some rice noodles to soak for pad thai later that evening.  However, we soon noticed some storm clouds rolling in and just as we were rigging up the tarp, the wind became ferocious.  That may seem hyperbolic, but it was some crazy wind, blowing people’s tents across the fields, threatening to tear our tarp, and just generally causing chaos.  We quickly threw everything into the car and huddled inside as huge raindrops began to pelt the ground.  Our dinner plans were quickly changed to leftovers and we ate while being amused by a group of Boy Scouts screaming like little girls and trying hopelessly to raise their tents.  No sooner than one tent was erected, another was reduced to a pile of nylon and a few broken poles.  It was actually quite hilarious.  Sometime later that evening, they surrendered and slept in the vans.  I am so glad not to have been chaperoning that trip.  It kept Michael and I entertained, though, and eventually the storm quieted enough so we could crawl into our tent and not risk being blown to Kansas.

We woke early the next morning as it was hot and we wanted to beat the crowds (plus the Boy Scouts weren’t exactly quiet…).  Much of the day was spent doing short hikes through the formations in the park.  It was quite surreal.  The massive forms are not so much stone as they are piles of clay that simply are eroding with time.  They say that if you return to the Badlands within just a few years, everything will be different.  It seemed to me as if we were on a foreign planet.  The landscape was monochromatic and eerily stark, but after a turn in the road, sunflowers dotted the fields.  I don’t think there is anything else like it but sadly, it is more or less melting with every passing year due to its nature.

I really wanted to find a fossil as it is quite common, but I wasn’t so lucky.  Oddly, they encourage people to traverse the park at will, not following marked trails and I imagine it is those people who find fossils.  We weren’t so brave as there are prairie rattlesnakes in the area and the tall grasses weren’t exactly inviting.  

 After exploring the Rim Road through the park, we drove Sage Creek Road which is a dirt road that passes through the preserved prairie.   It was cool to see the endless fields with prairie dogs, bison, and pronghorn deer.  I even drove for awhile and we just enjoyed the views.  The highlight of our day was seeing a golden eagle fly ever so close over us as we drove.  I didn’t get a great picture since we were traveling about 40 mph and the bird was flying, but it was definitely something we won’t forget.

We finally had a calm night although this time we were prepared for a storm.  The next morning, we left the park for the long drive to the Tetons, stopping in Buffalo, WY for a night.  It was nice to get a simple dinner from a family food truck and walk around the little town, ending the night with some ice cream.  Next stop: Grand Tetons National Park.